68 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM Take one look at Namiko “Nami” Hirwasawa-Chen’s blog Just One Cookbook (justonecookbook.com) and you’ll realize there’s so much more to Japanese cuisine than teriyaki and tempura. Her authentic recipes and enticing photos, all shot by her husband Shen Chen, are meant to inspire even the most inexperienced home cooks to give it a try. Originally from Yokohama, Japan, a pre-teen Nami began working in the kitchen at her grandfather’s local restaurant alongside her mother. She developed sharp cooking skills, an {food coloring} extensive knowledge of authentic Japanese dishes and the ability to churn out good meals, quickly. Later, in high school, she came to the Bay Area as a foreign exchange student. That was 20 years ago. “It was culture shock at first, but I was really in love with the nature and geography of California,” the Belmont resident recounts. “I wanted to come back for college and major in environmental studies.” While attending college, Nami got a job at a former digital mapping company in Silicon Valley (her knowledge of geography got her the gig), which is where she met Shen. Even back then, the pair shared a mutual love of food. “At work, we would all go out for lunch as a group or find a place to go get sushi,” says Shen. “Food is what brought us together.” It wasn’t until Nami’s student visa was about to expire that CUISINE japanese home cooking words by ELAINE WU PHOTOGRAPHY: PAULETTE PHLIPOT
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